From Xinhua via China Daily (link):
A Chinese government official says China will turn down any request for the return of ancient Japanese treasures given in tribute to past Chinese rulers.
Beijing’s Palace Museum has several hundred items dedicated by the Ryukyu Kingdom, now Japan’s prefecture of Okinawa, to ancient Chinese emperors.
He was responding to Japanese media reports that officials in Okinawa had asked Japan’s new ambassador to China, Yuji Miyamoto, to “return the Ryukyuan treasures to their hometown”.
